Sunday, November 25, 2007

International Indian

Internationally, Indians are considered to be hardworking disciplined and goal oriented. Their commitment to work and their out of the box Indian way of thinking makes them coveted professionals. An info-sec consultant in Jeddah asserts Indians are perceived as reliable honest and trustworthy. Indians preferred over others because Indians are not only well qualified but are also willing to learn new things and work hard to get to the top. Owing to conservative upbringing where (in India) respect towards elders is ingrained in Indians since childhood they are viewed as polite and patient. Indians are able to work well even with limited resources, and this is definitely a plus point Indians’ intelligence coupled with their tolerance and simplicity is valued world over. One Indian scientist who did scientific research in Canada for four years opines, being an Indian is a definite asset, for one, language is not a barrier. Under the same conditions abroad Indians find their Chinese colleagues struggling to understand scientific literature and write science in good English. Although it is the ideas that matter, they think Indians have an edge over Chinese in communicating ideas effectively.

On the other hand, being an Indian abroad comes with its own set of obstacles. Racism, however discreet, is definitely prevalent. There are many misconceptions regarding Indians, who are thought to be unhygienic possibly due to the notion that India was poor and disease struck. A lot of people abroad are unaware that English is the official medium of instruction in the majority of Indian city schools. When an Indian taught undergraduates in Canada, the students were surprised with their teacher’s fluency in English and ability to communicate ideas effectively in English.

Only people who are ignorant about Indians fail to see how intelligent articulate, worldly wise, enterprising hardworking and open Indians are. Being an Indian is not at all a drawback in any way and Indians command a lot of respect Worldwide.

So, for a modern and educated Indian (or any person of any other nationality), it is natural to be an international citizen. Indian or any person of any other nationality needs to blend into the world socially and culturally albeit economically.

People of all nationalities do want to maintain their roots since it is their ancestry, but at the same time they have to blend in if they want to immerse in the global world.

Today, Indians are respected as professionals and academics in a big way. India is known to be a major competitor in the field of IT. Many Indians living in India and abroad have received high honors from foreign governments and international institutions in diverse fields. Author Kiran Desai won the Man Booker Prize last year, the second Indian to do so. This year Rajendra Pachauri shared the Nobel Prize for Peace with Al Gore. Innumerable Indians have lived and worked abroad for long periods and blended with society there, but still they continue to make their country proud by retaining their Indian identity.

There is no doubt that India is an emerging super power. Foreign investors think the opportunities presented in South Asia’s biggest economy are unlimited. A case in point, of the $150 billion foreign companies invested in developing economies last year; one-fifth was invested in India, the hottest of the hot markets today. Given that the rest of the world has this much faith in us, it is time we realized that being Indian at this crucial time in world history can only be an advantage,. Being an Indian is nothing to be ashamed of; in fact it is definitely something to be proud of.

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posted by Paresh @ 7:46 PM

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